Winner Wonderland The die was cast. November 3rd 2019 would be a deciding match. Who would go through to the Munster Hurling Club Championship? Which team would be crowned Kings of the Mighty Tipp? One team had progressed from rock bottom to becoming one of the Tipp giants in the past decade. The other had been knocking on the door for the past 33 years, but that final place had always eluded them. This was the day that would decide which team would represent the premier county in the Munster Hurling Club Championship and which team would hopefully later reach the ultimate goal of being crowned All-Ireland Hurling Club Champions. That journey started here. Borrisoleigh V Kiladangan. The first game play action came 11 seconds into the game when Kiladangan’s number 15 Billy Seymour had a crack at goal but was superbly denied by Borrisoleigh’s big number 1 James McCormack. Borrisoleigh were denied a golden goal that would narrow a small gap between these opponents, but James Devaney made sure that he would add another goal to the incredible tally he had already amassed during the course of the County Hurling Championship. He did this in style with a solo goal from the 45 metre line and he buried it at the back of the net on the 28th minute. Both teams scored from all around the pitch far and short and from all angles too and the first half ended 1-09 to 0-07 in favour of the Borrisoleigh men. After the break, everything became a ‘flash in the pan’ for Borrisoleigh as Kiladangan’s Dan O’Meara flicked the sliotar past James McCormack to make it a 3 point game, which on the strike of a ball separated the two teams. Brendan Maher was on sound at the half-back line as he hit 3 points; two from frees which helped Borrisoleigh stay ahead. Kiladangan were awarded a penalty after Sean Hayes was dragged down by the Borrisoleigh defenders and the referee had no hesitation in blowing his whistle. Up to take the penalty was goalkeeper Barry Hogan, goalkeeper vs goalkeeper. The shot was taken and James McCormack leaped like a salmon in a river and blocked the sliotar with his ash made hurl. When the clock hit the 50 minute mark, supporters from both sides were edging their teams to get a score which would make all the difference at the end. It was a do or die situation for the players out on the field at Semple Stadium. Point of the day would have to go to Kiladangan’s number 11 Willie Connors for his outrageous sideline cut that swerved over the bar and I’ll tell you Joe Canning would have been jealous of that! The last poc of the day was the Kiladangan’s goalkeeper Barry Hogan as Kiladangan’s efforts to get on top failed. The final whistle sounded, Semple Stadium erupted with cheers of happiness, it was like the stand roof had been blown off. The cheers were so loud you could have heard them as far as the Slievenamon mountain. Borrisoleigh haven’t won the title since 1986 was the message which spread across Ireland; it was the talking point for months. The final score line read: Borrisoleigh 1-15 Kiladagan 1-12. As the Borrisoleigh Captain Conor Kenny walked up to receive the holy grail you could see in his eyes how much it meant for him to have captained 64
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